Emergence: Dave vs. the Monsters

John Birmingham is the master of alternate history adventure - and now he's mastered a new genre with the volcanically fast-paced and wildly inventive Dave Hooper urban fantasy series. The series is anchored by a thrilling high concept: An oil rig opens a rift deep in the ocean that unleashes terrifying monsters into the world. But perhaps its coolest asset is its hero, Dave Hooper, a tough, bleakly funny, down-on-his luck oil rig worker with an unlikely destiny as a monster-slayer and world savior.

Divine Misfortune

Teri and Phil had never needed their own personal god. But when Phil is passed up for a promotion - again - it's time to take matters into their own hands. And look online. Choosing a god isn't as simple as you would think. There are too many choices; and they often have very hefty prices for their eternal devotion: blood, money, sacrifices, and vows of chastity. But then they find Luka, raccoon god of prosperity. All he wants is a small cut of their good fortune. Oh - and to crash on their couch for a few days.

Gil's All Fright Diner

Duke and Earl are just passing through Rockwood county in their pick-up truck when they stop at the Diner for a quick bite to eat. They aren't planning to stick around-until Loretta, the eatery's owner, offers them $100 to take care of her zombie problem. Given that Duke is a werewolf and Earl's a vampire, this looks right up their alley.But the shambling dead are just the tip of a particularly spiky iceberg.

Too Many Curses

The wizard Margle the Horrendous takes special pride in never killing his enemies. Instead, he transforms them into various accursed forms and locks them away in his castle. It's Nessy's duty to tend this castle. Its a lot of work, but she manages, taking pride in housekeeping talents that keep the castle from collapsing into chaos. But when Margle suddenly dies, everything begins to unravel.

Helen & Troy's Epic Road Quest

Witness the epic battle of the cyclops! Visit the endangered dragon preserve! Please, no slaying. Solve the mystery of The Mystery Cottage, if you dare! Buy some knickknacks from The Fates! They might come in handy later. On a road trip across an enchanted America, Helen and Troy will discover all this and more. If the curse placed upon them by an ancient god doesn't kill them or the pack of reluctant orc assassins don't catch up to them, Helen and Troy might reach the end their journey in one piece, where they might just end up destroying the world.

Chasing the Moon

Diana's life was in a rut - she hated her job, she was perpetually single, and she needed a place to live. But then the perfect apartment came along. It seemed too good to be true - because it was. As it turns out, the apartment was already inhabited - by monsters.

Monster Hunter International

Five days after Owen Zastava Pitt pushed his insufferable boss out of a 14th story window, he woke up in the hospital with a scarred face, an unbelievable memory, and a job offer. It turns out that monsters are real. All the things from myth, legend, and B-movies are out there, waiting in the shadows. Some of them are evil, and some are just hungry. Monster Hunter International is the premier eradication company in the business. And now Owen is their newest recruit.

The Automatic Detective

Even in Empire City, a town where weird science is the hope for tomorrow, it's hard for a robot to make his way. It's even harder for a robot named Mack Megaton, a hulking machine designed to bring mankind to its knees. But Mack's not interested in world domination. He's just a bot trying to get by, trying to demonstrate that he isn't just an automated smashing machine, and to earn his citizenship in the process. It should be as easy as crushing a tank for Mack, but some bots just cant catch a break.

Zero World

Technologically enhanced superspy Peter Caswell has been dispatched on a top-secret assignment unlike any he's ever faced. A spaceship that vanished years ago has been found, along with the bodies of its murdered crew - save one. Peter's mission is to find the missing crew member, who fled through what appears to be a tear in the fabric of space. Beyond this mysterious doorway lies an even more confounding reality: a world that seems to be Earth's twin.

Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain

Emperor Mollusk. Intergalactic Menace. Destroyer of Worlds. Conqueror of Other Worlds. Mad Genius. Ex-Warlord of Earth. Not bad for a guy without a spine. But what's a villain to do after he's done... everything. With no new ambitions, he's happy to pitch in and solve the energy crisis or repel aliens invaders should the need arise, but if he had his way, he'd prefer to be left alone to explore the boundaries of dangerous science. Just as a hobby, of course. Retirement isn't easy though.

Hunter

They came after the Diseray. Some were terrors ripped from our collective imaginations, remnants of every mythology across the world. And some were like nothing anyone had ever dreamed up, even in their worst nightmares. Now, the luckiest Cits live in enclosed communities, behind walls that keep them safe from the hideous monsters fighting to break through.

A Nameless Witch

Being born undead can have its disadvantages, such as eternal youth and flawless beauty-things most unsuitable for a witch. Hiding behind the guise of a grimy old crone, the witch is content living outside Fort Stalwart with her unlikely band of allies: a troll named Gwurm, an enchanted broom, and a demonic duck named Newt. She leads a simple life filled with spells, potions, and the occasional curse.

An Unattractive Vampire

After three centuries trapped underground, thousand-year-old Yulric Bile, also known as The Cursed One, The Devil's Apprentice, He Who Worships the Slumbering Horrors, awakens only to find that no one believes he is a vampire. Apparently he's just too ugly. Modern vampires, he soon discovers, are pretty, weak, and, most disturbing of all, good.

Three Hearts and Three Lions

The gathering forces of the Dark Powers threaten the world of man. The legions of Faery, aided by trolls, demons, and the Wild Hunt itself, are poised to overthrow the Realms of Light. Holger Carlsen, a bemused and puzzled twentieth-century man mysteriously snatched out of time, finds himself the key figure in the conflict. Arrayed against him are the dragons, giants, and elfin warriors of the armies of Chaos and the beautiful sorceress Morgan le Fay.

Off to Be the Wizard

It's a simple story. Boy finds proof that reality is a computer program. Boy uses program to manipulate time and space. Boy gets in trouble. Boy flees back in time to Medieval England to live as a wizard while he tries to think of a way to fix things. Boy gets in more trouble. Oh, and boy meets girl at some point.

Jim &#34;The Impatient&#34; says:"IT WOULD BE IDYLLIC, IF NOT FOR THE CORPSES"

Lovecraft's Monsters

Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.

We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1

Bob Johansson has just sold his software company and is looking forward to a life of leisure. There are places to go, books to read, and movies to watch. So it's a little unfair when he gets himself killed crossing the street. Bob wakes up a century later to find that corpsicles have been declared to be without rights, and he is now the property of the state. He has been uploaded into computer hardware and is slated to be the controlling AI in an interstellar probe looking for habitable planets.

Nice Dragons Finish Last: Heartstrikers, Book 1

Audie Award, Fantasy, 2016. As the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan, Julius survives by a simple code: keep quiet, don't cause trouble, and stay out of the way of bigger dragons. But this meek behavior doesn't fly in a family of ambitious magical predators, and his mother, Bethesda the Heartstriker, has finally reached the end of her patience.

The Last Adventure of Constance Verity

Constance Verity has been saving the world since she was seven, and she's sick of it. She sets off on one last adventure to reset her destiny and become the one thing she's never been: ordinary. Ever since she was granted a wish at birth by her fairy godmother, Constance Verity has become the world's great adventurer. She is a master of martial arts and a keen detective and possesses a collection of strange artifacts. Constance has spent the past 28 years saving the world, and she's tired of it.

The Hike

When Ben, a suburban family man, takes a business trip to rural Pennsylvania, he decides to spend the afternoon before his dinner meeting on a short hike. Once he sets out into the woods behind his hotel, he quickly comes to realize that the path he has chosen cannot be given up easily. With no choice but to move forward, Ben finds himself falling deeper and deeper into a world of man-eating giants, bizarre demons, and colossal insects.

Critical Failures: Caverns and Creatures, Book 1

Tim and his friends find out the hard way that you shouldn't question the game master, and you shouldn't make fun of his cape. One minute, they're drinking away the dreariness of their lives, escaping into a fantasy game and laughing their asses off. The next minute, they're in a horse-drawn cart surrounded by soldiers pointing crossbows at them.

The Spaceship Next Door

When a spaceship landed in an open field in the quiet mill town of Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, everyone realized humankind was not alone in the universe. With that realization everyone freaked out for a little while. Or almost everyone. The residents of Sorrow Falls took the news pretty well. This could have been due to a certain local quality of unflappability, or it could have been that in three years the ship did exactly nothing other than sit quietly in that field, and nobody understood the full extent of this nothing the ship was doing better than the people who lived right next door.

Star Maker

One moment a man sits on a suburban hill, gazing curiously at the stars. The next, he is whirling through the firmament, and perhaps the most remarkable of all science fiction journeys has begun. Even Stapledon's other great work, 'Last and First Men' pales in ambition next to 'Star Maker' which presents nothing less than an entire imagined history of life in the universe, encompassing billions of years.

Publisher's Summary

Meet Monster. Meet Judy. Two humans who don't like each other much, but together must fight dragons, fire-breathing felines, trolls, Inuit walrus dogs, and a crazy cat lady - for the future of the universe.

Monster runs a pest-control agency. He's overworked and has domestic troubles - like having the girlfriend from hell.

Judy works the night shift at the local Food Plus Mart. Not the most glamorous life, but Judy is happy. No one bothers her, and if she has to spell things out for the night-manager every now and again, so be it.

But when Judy finds a Yeti in the freezer aisle eating all the Rocky Road, her life collides with Monster's in a rather alarming fashion. Because Monster doesn't catch raccoons; he catches the things that go bump in the night. Things like ogres, trolls, and dragons. Oh, and his girlfriend from Hell? She actually is from Hell.

Such an amazing story! This clever and fun story did for Monsters what "Men in Black" did for aliens. This story had such a fun and eclectic cast of characters that I couldn't wait to jump in my car and hear more of this story. This is most definitely a fun book to read and laugh along to, so long as you don't mind a cynical jerk as your lead character. I got a kick out of it.

Static or Dynamic: Not overly either. It had descriptions, but wasn't tedious and it had plot twists but they weren't corkscrews.

1st or 3rd Person: 3rd person: follows 2-3 main characters through a slice of life in the fantasy realm

Abstract or Concrete: Sufficiently both. Some things were abstract like the mechanics of fantastical retrograde amnesia, others parts were more concrete like the specific behaviors of a plethora of mystical animals.

Linear or Non-Linear: Weakly Linear: the plot goes forward through time but it's not until a ways in that you feel like it's actually leading to a conclusion.

Narrator: It's been a while since I've heard the book and I can't say that I particularly remember the experience. That can be good and bad. It wasn't so horrible I couldn't stand it, but it wasn't particularly spectacular.

Plot Outline: So mythical animals are all around us but you never notice them because your brain induces amnesia to counter the weirdness of it all. Monster, our protagonist is one of the guys that clears up these little monster sightings. Things get more complicated when some overly strange things tend to happen to one of the people he meets and the story floats around that for a while until it pulls towards a conclusion. I get the impression that the strange happenings of the story were devices for making jokes and poking fun at the mystical world that we apparently live in. This is mostly a comedy and if you're looking for something groundbreaking or overly involving you will probably be disappointed. However, if you'd like a chuckle on your way to work, this is perfect.

While I liked the basis of the story and enjoyed the monster catching mayhem, the characters leave something to be desired. Monster (dumb name) was supposed to have a 'I don't give a damn' dry wit that was supposed to be funny, only he just acted like an ass. Both main characters are not very likeable and I didn't care what really happens to them. Which is a shame because this story is quirky and somewhat entertaining. I might try another book by the same author if I catch it on sale. If this is your type of book you like, I would recommend the authors Jim Bernheimer or Christopher Moore both are better with the twisted and funny material I was hoping for in this book. Narrator does a really good job and I would be happy to listen to him again.

This book was a huge letdown for me. I listened to Emperor Mollusk Versus the Sinister Brain (also by Martinez) and loved it, so I was excited to pick up Monster. Unfortunately, I found it boring, unfunny and devoid of likeable characters. Skip this one and pick up Emperor Mollusk instead.

While Monster was a fun listen, this book was a little too cute for its own good (Demons use "Blessed" as a curse word! Even ethereal beings have to deal with paperwork! Our hero's name is Monster, and he catches monsters for a living!). There were some good ideas, and human existence was at stake, but the ideas weren't fleshed out enough and the fate of the universe never really seemed in doubt. It felt as though the author was thinking, "Wouldn't it be clever if I threw this in?" as he was writing it, but never stopped long enough on an idea to give it weight. Our protagonist is an overall unlikable guy, and we never really get a good sense of his back-story. The main villain's motivation seemed to be "Just because," which is pretty weak.

The narrator does a pretty good job with the different characters, and he keeps the book moving at a good clip. The 8+ hours absolutely flew by, which makes it great for a week's worth of driving to work. The story is straightforward and uncomplicated, though I'm a little disappointed because it had a lot more to offer and never really got there. Overall, I'd say this is a light, fun book with some very forgettable characters.

Lately I've been diggin' A. Lee Martinez. He's got quite a few novels on Audible and each one captures a different sub-group of the sci-fi / fantasy genre quite well; I definitely recommend many of his other works at a 5-star level (see my other reviews). For some reason though, I feel like this one wasn't quite firing on all cylinders.

I like the dragon that he's chasing here - a monster-catcher, civil employee for a fantastic and hidden sub-culture has to save girl who is more than she seems. But I feel like the Conflict of the novel is lacking. I'm now realizing that's very important in maintaining cohesion.

Overall, I'd recommend this book, but only if all other 5-star options are inaccessible at the moment. Otherwise, I'd keep this one on the back burner.